Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Blogs bridge Iran-US gulf - The Boston Globe

Interesting times…

Three decades after the United States cut off diplomatic ties with Iran, blogs and e-mail have become crucial conduits for communication between the countries - and for often-lively debates among officials of both countries and average citizens.

"The Internet is our most significant ally," Goli Ameri, assistant secretary of state for Educational and Cultural Affairs, told Congress earlier this year in highlighting efforts to reach out to average Iranians.

With an estimated 60,000 active Farsi-speaking blogs, Iran has one of the most vibrant blogospheres in the world, outstripping the rest of the Middle East. In 2006 and 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a blog to address the American people, even as the Bush administration shunned him and American news outlets portrayed him as dangerous and unstable.